At Long Last
by BMWWfreak
Summary: Hermione tells Lupin what's on her mind, but is it really her who's telling him? Lupin/Tonks. One-Shot.


**Please read. Thank you. Now, this is set after the books. But I've changed quite a bit. Remus and Tonks never died (YES!), they were never married (but together), and Teddy was never born. But that's not to say he never will be ;) Oh, and Fred never died. What a nice world, eh?**

**Enjoy, and please review, because I have this friend, his name is Bob. He has sharp teeth, and they're bigger than any sparkly vampire's ;) He doesn't like people who don't review :O**

It was Christmas Eve. Everyone was at the Burrow, sitting at the table. Nobody seemed to notice that there was someone missing.

"Harry?" Tonks asked from beside him.

"Yes?"

"Where's Remus?"

He hadn't noticed he wasn't at the table.

"I don't know," he answered.

Tonks excused herself from the table.

* * *

><p>He didn't notice her enter the small room, but when she stepped on a creaking floorboard, he turned, startled. He was standing by the window. He saw Hermione in the doorway, looking worried.<p>

He seemed to think of something. "Am I not supposed to be in here?"

"Its Ginny's room, but I don't think she would mind," she said.

She noticed he had a gash on his face, from his right temple down to his jaw. He looked tired. He had bags under his eyes. He wasn't looking his best, to say the least. Then she noticed the moon outside the window. She closed her eyes as it dawned on her what the last night had been. Full moon. No wonder. But hat still wasn't an excuse to stay upstairs on Christmas Eve.

"May I ask you a question?"

He seemed a bit reluctant, but he nodded.

"Why are you up here? Dinner's almost ready."

He stared at the ground with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm not hungry," he replied, sounding a bit hoarse.

"At least come and sit with everyone."

"I'd better not."

"You're more than welcome."

"Thank you, Hermione. But I still believe I better stay up here."

Awkward silence.

"Does this have anything to do with Tonks?" Hermione asked calmly.

That got his attention. He was looking at her now.

"No, of course not."

"Really? Because she's been quiet too," she said.

"Hermione," he said, smiling just a bit. He seemed to see right through her schemes to get them back together. "Dora and I have split up for the better."

"For the better for you or for her?" Hermione asked flatly.

"For her," he said, a bit sternly. "It was too dangerous."

"Think of Ginny. She's with Harry. He knows the people out there who hate him are going to go after her first if they want to hurt him. But he's willing to risk it for the happiness of them both," Hermione said. "Its ridiculous, what you're doing."

That seemed to throw him off guard. Hermione usually didn't do this. It wasn't like her. He knew something was wrong when he saw a tear run down the girl's face.

"Hermione," he asked quietly, as he took a step closer to her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

He hated seeing her like this. But something was off. Something didn't feel right.

"I...I just don't understand why you're rejecting her," Hermione said.

"Its not that I'm rejecting her, it's just that I know she'll be harmed if I were to transform."

He felt as if he were having another argument with Dora.

"But the necessary precautions have always been taken with your transformations," Hermione said.

"I just can't do that to her."

"Have you ever considered how she feels?" Hermione said, starting to cry again.

"Well of course I have! But that doesn't change anything. I'm still..." he said, words coming out slower as he finished.

Then he realized, when Hermione's nose just didn't look quite right.

She seemed confused. Then she saw the way he was looking at her. Her confusion turned to worry.

He watched her hair slowly turn pink and her face start changing. "Dora," he said.

In a few seconds, she was fully Tonks. Pink hair, bright blue eyes, at the moment.

She seemed embarrassed. He was smiling ever so slightly.

"How did you get your hands on some Polyjuice potion?" he asked, chuckling a bit.

She ignored his question. Tears were still in her eyes, a few running down her cheek. She turned away and walked out of the room, arms crossed. She went down into the dining area and sat down in her seat in between Ron and Harry. She was still crying.

"Tonks?" Harry asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder

"What happened? Why're you crying?" Ron asked.

Everyone had noticed her tears now. She sniffed, but didn't answer for a moment. Right before she was about to give them an answer, Remus walked in, and all eyes turned to him, as if to say, 'What did you do?'

He looked embarrassed. He was looking around until he saw her. He squeezed through the crowd of people and finally got to where he was behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she stood. He led her into the living room, nodding to everyone.

"Dora," he said, not realizing everyone could hear him, and some people could even see him, including Fred and George.

Fred automatically told everyone what they could see. Some people disagreed with their eavesdropping, like Hermione and Ginny, but Harry and Ron wanted to know.

Fred craned his neck in order to see the living room more clearly.

"Dora," he repeated, "I'm sorry."

Tonks stared up at him, as Fred and George repeated everything Remus said quietly, but she had no idea.

"I've been a fool," he continued.

"Yes," she agreed, "you have."

But Fred nor George could hear them anymore, do to their mother clanging pots and pans in the kitchen. Then, their mother came in and blocked their view of the living room by shutting the door. The last thing Fred saw was Lupin smiling.

"My goodness, its like raising five-year-old's all over again," Molly said.

"Aw!" Fred whined.

"It was just getting to the good part!"

She shook her head as she waved her wand to set the table.

"I wonder what happened," Harry commented, moving his hand so his cup could lend in front of his plate.

"Who knows," Ron said.

"It's _their _business," Hermione said, sitting next to Harry, "Not yours."

"Oh, lighten up," Ron said. Hermione rolled her eyes.

The food was being served when Tonks walked in, Lupin behind her.

Ron got up and changed seats with Harry so he could sit by Hermione, and Lupin got another chair for Tonks. Everyone was staring, and Remus didn't notice at first. He was putting ham on his plate when he looked up and noticed all eyes on him, again.

When he didn't speak, Tonks told everyone they were back together.

Everyone agreed.

"Good," Harry said.

Fred nodded, and then said, "Next should be Ron and Hermione."

Ron gave him a look. "But we never broke up."

"You didn't?"

"No," Ron replied, looking at Hermione, "Right?"

"I don't think so," she said.

"Oh," Fred said, shrugging.

Ginny looked at Remus. "Just...don't break up again, alright? It was sad, and unnecessary."

Remus laughed. "Alright."


End file.
